Operation: IDENTITY
by consuelas revenge
Summary: The Cleveland Police finds a body that needs to be identified. Please Read and Review.


A spontaneous thought that popped into my head. Please Read and Review!

I don't own KND.

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Detective Liz McAdams shook her head in sadness, looking over the body that had just washed up on the shore of Lake Eerie. This was the newest case that she had been assigned to, and she couldn't say that she enjoyed this part of her job. The young detective replaced the white sheet that had been covering the small, lifeless body and turned to the officer standing near her.

"So what's the story on this one?" she asked in a business like tone.

The man sighed and crossed his arms. "Well, apparently, a lady had been walking her dog when she spotted this kid floating face down in the water here."

"Ah. Around what time did this happen?"

"About 7:00 this morning." The male officer answered immediately.

"I see." Liz lifted the sheet again to take another look at the blue- skinned body underneath. "Do we know the cause of death?"

"Supposedly the kid drowned, but so far that's only an assumption."

Liz pursed her lips and drummed her fingers on her arm, lost in thought for a second. "Alright." She said finally. "After we're finished here we'll need to get the body to the morgue to find out the exact cause." The officer nodded and walked away, leaving Detective McAdams alone with the small body covered in a white sheet.

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It was that same day that Liz found herself at the Cleveland City morgue, sitting in a chair, waiting for the news about the body. She tapped her foot impatiently, while reading over the report so far.

_Sex: male_

_Hair: blonde_

_Eyes: green_

_Name: not yet identified_

She sighed. It was her job to identify this kid, no matter what the cost. Hopefully this would be an easier case; she had definitely met some doozies in her time. Liz closed the file and looked up when she heard the door open. The doctor came out and motioned for her to follow into the room where the body was kept.

The female doctor and the detective gathered around a metal table, and the doctor lifted back the sheet, revealing the same small boy that Detective Liz had encountered that morning.

"We've confirmed that the cause of death is drowning," the Doctor said. "And judging by the condition of the skin, this kid's been dead for about 4 days."

"Can you tell how old he is?"

"I'd say about 10 or 11, but I can't be sure until the body is identified."

Detective Liz nodded. "I'll check through the missing person files. How many missing 10-year-olds could there be in Cleveland? This kid might not even be from around here."

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Liz rubbed her temples and rested her head on her desk. Oh, there were missing kids in Cleveland alright. Well, more than she would've guessed. So far, she had come by five files of blonde-haired, green-eyed, 9 to 11 year old boys, all of them missing. It had to be one of them; if it wasn't, she would have to expand her search to all of Ohio.

Spreading the 5 newly-printed pieces of paper out on her desk, Liz began to study them, taking the pictures on the files and comparing it to a picture of the body. She held up the picture next to the first file, and raised her eyebrows. They looked a lot alike. Unfortunately, Liz came to find that two of the other files looked a lot like the picture too. She sat back in her chair and chuckled.

_How ironic._

Okay, so she had narrowed it down to three possibilities. Time to start making some calls.

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Mrs. Dora Yagel sat anxiously by the phone, while her husband stood pacing around the living room.

"The police said they would notify us as soon as they found something…" She whispered timidly.

"Yeah, well it's been three days, and I want some information now!" Mr. Yagel began to stride towards the phone, ready to pick it up and call the police for an update.

"Tom, I don't think-"

"For god's sake Dora, our son is missing! The least they could do is call us with an update!" He was about to rip up the phone, when ironically, it rang. Immediately he picked it up, awaiting news about his missing child.

"DidyoufindBrian?" Mr. Yagel couldn't contain his worry as the words tumbled out of his mouth in a rush.

"Is this the Yagel residence?"

"Yes…" By now Dora had picked up a phone and was anxiously listening to the conversation too.

"This is Detective Liz McAdams from the Cleveland police. We may have new about your son, Brian."

"What is it?" Both parents asked at the same time.

"A body of a boy around Brian's age was found today-" At this Mrs. Yagel burst into tears and Mr. Yagel bit his lip, trying to maintain is composure. Mrs. Yagel hung up the phone continued to sob as her husband listened to the rest of the conversation. After a minute, he hung up the phone and went to console his wife. They sat together, the only sound being Dora's sniffles. After a while, Tom Yagel spoke.

"They want us to identify the body."

Dora immediately lifted her head and looked at him with wide, puffy eyes, and nodded.

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The anxious couple walked out of the room in the morgue where they had just been answering questions about their son. They were following Detective McAdams to the window through which they would see the body and identify it.

Tom and Dora Yagel held each other as they walked through the fluorescent-lighted hallways of the morgue. It was completely silent except for the tapping of footsteps and the pair's ragged breathing. They were hoping, _praying_ that this dead child was not Brian, but from the looks of it, there was a good chance that is was. This only made the tension and the tears behind their eyes grow as they walked.

The female detective stopped them in front of a window through which many metal tables could be seen.

"Now," Detective Liz said, "The body of the child will be rolled in front of the window in a short time. All you have to do is tell us if he is your son or not." The couple nodded, and Liz gave them a sympathetic look. From there she stood back as Mr. and Mrs. Yagel hovered in front of the window in tearful anticipation.

Soon enough, a metal cart was wheeled in on the other side of the large window, and the two parents' lips quivered as the sheet was pulled back to reveal the face of an eternally still little boy.

Only seconds passed before Mrs. Yagel turned towards Detective McAdams.

"It's not him."

"Are you sure Mrs. Yagel?"

"We're sure." Mr. Yagel put in. "We know our son, and that is definitely not Brian."

The Detective sighed and nodded. "Alright. Thank you for coming in. We appreciate your help." With that, Liz exited the room to get back to the case. Alright, so this kid was definitely not Brian Yagel. Time to get back to work.

She stayed around the couple long enough to see them hug each other in relief. "There's still hope." She heard Mr. Yagel whisper in his wife's ear. The distraught woman nodded, still in tears, and the parents passed her in the hall, hand in hand. Liz was happy for them; they still had a chance of finding their son alive.

Unfortunately, a different pair of parents might not come out of the morgue as relieved as the Yagels. _Time to make some more phone calls,_ Liz thought.

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Detective Liz sat at her desk and picked up the next file of another possible identity of the body. Leaning back in her chair, she reread the missing person file.

_Missing: Wallabee Beetles_

'_Weird name…' _Liz thought, and she read on.

_Age: 11 years_

_DOB: Oct. 15 1993_

_Hair color: Blonde_

_Eye color: Green_

_Height: 4' 4"_

_Weight: 81 lbs_

_Was wearing: An orange sweatshirt with a hood, blue jeans, white sneakers_

Liz thought for a second. The report said that the body had been found with blue jeans and white socks, but nothing else. Besides, the other two boys had also been wearing blue jeans. The clothing description was of no assistance to her. She read on.

_If found, please contact: Parents- Mr. and Mrs. Beetles 555- 8724_

_ Other contacts- Mr. and Mrs. Uno (friends) 555- 4933_

Bingo. Liz picked up the phone and dialed the number for Wallabee Beetle's parents. It rang once, twice, three times. A few more rings later, and an answering machine picked up.

"Hello, you've reached the Beetle's residence," –Detective Liz recognized a distinct Australian accent in the recording of the female voice- "We can't come ta the phone roight now, so leave us a message and we'll get back to yeh."

_Beep!_

Liz left an appropriate message and placed her forehead in her hands. How could his parents not be home? Maybe they were out looking for their son? Anything was possible.

She decided to call the next number, the Unos. If they were on the flier, then they must be close to Wallabee Beetles. Liz picked up the phone and dialed a number once again.

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A large tree house jutted out of the roof of a house in the suburbs of Cleveland. Inside, 4 children were sitting in a room at the very top of the huge tree house. 3 of them were sitting on a couch that was lowered into the floor, and one of them was standing at a podium. They were all holding huge stacks of paper.

"Alright team." Numbuh One, or Nigel Uno, straightened his classic black sunglasses as he spoke. "It's been five days since the disappearance of one of our fellow operatives." After this sentence everyone's face fell even lower than they already were, and a sniff could be heard from the small Japanese girl who was sitting on the edge of the couch. Numbuh One continued, "Now, so far we've contacted global command, who has contacted every Kids Next Door tree house in the world. Every Kids Next Door operative is on the lookout and is spreading the word. We have also filed a missing persons report with Numbuh Four's real name, so now the adults might be able to help us." The bald boy said the last few words with a little bit of strain. If not for Numbuh Five, or Abigail Lincoln, he would never have contacted the adults for help.

But this was serious, Numbuh Five had told him, and they needed all the help they could get. There friend was gone without a trace. They had searched for Numbuh Four for hours on the night he had disappeared, but to no avail. They couldn't call Numbuh Four's parents; they were on their second honeymoon in Guam and couldn't be contacted (Joey was staying with the Unos). After the third day, as much as he hated to admit it, they needed to contact the adults.

Numbuh One continued. "Our mission today is to post these fliers around Cleveland. We need everyone's help to recover the whereabouts of Numbuh Four."

Numbuh Two put his face in his hands. "Why would he run away? I don't understand…"

"Maybe he didn't run away," Numbuh Five shrugged. "Maybe he was kidnapped by one of our enemies."

"But we had Kids Next Door agents everywhere interrogate all of our normal villains." Numbuh One put in hopelessly. "None of them had captured Numbuh Four."

Numbuh Three was ignoring this whole conversation; instead she was staring at Numbuh Four's picture on the flier. She stared into his green eyes, and he stared back at her. He was smiling in the picture… he looked so happy there.

_Where are you?_

The conversation between Numbuhs One, Two and Five was interrupted when Numbuh Three's soft, bleak voice broke through. "W-what if we never find him?" she asked, her big black eyes shining with tears.

Silence fell upon the remaining four Kids Next Door operatives.

Suddenly the phone rang.

"I-I'll get it," Numbuh One's voice quivered as he got up to get the phone, Numbuh Three's words still ringing in his head.

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Detective Liz drummed her fingers on her desk as she waited for an answer. One ring, two rings. She perked up when someone answered after the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Is this the Uno residence?"

"Yes."

"Are Mr. or Mrs. Uno at home? I'm Detective Liz McAdams of the Cleveland police, and I have information regarding Wallabee Beetles."

Immediately Numbuh One gave his full attention to the phone conversation. "You know where Numbuh Four is?" He asked quickly. The others looked up from the couch and gathered around Numbuh One at the mention of Numbuh Four.

They watched as Numbuh One nodded and said things like, "yes", "I'm his best friend", and "okay". Soon enough, Numbuh One hung up the phone and turned around to face his team. He removed his sunglasses to everyone's surprise, but the others were more surprised about how huge and shocked his bug blue eyes looked.

"Numbuh One?" Numbuh Five stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, apparently drawing him out of his stupor. He looked up at her with an expression she had never seen him wear before. "Numbuh One…" Abby tried again. "what's wrong?"

Numbuh One put his sunglasses back on and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Guys…" he started. "That was… that was the Cleveland police." At this the others' stomachs flopped. If Numbuh One had such a grim expression on his face, this couldn't be good news.

"They… found a body…" At the word 'body' Numbuh One's voice cracked. "…that looks like Numbuh Four."

A terrified squeak escaped Numbuh Three's mouth.

Numbuh One continued. "Since my parents are out, and his are out of contact…" He took a deep breath. "T-they want us to identify it."

Nobody spoke.


End file.
